Vice-President Nguema Obiang Mangue has given the Ministry of Transport and New Technologies 24 hours to stop the dissemination of pornographic images that have flooded social networks in Equatorial Guinea amid revelations that Baltasar Ebang Engonga was allegedly romping several women in his office.
Engonga is Equatorial Guinea’s National Investigation Agency (NIF) chief. If tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease, the state prosecutor said the embattled official would be charged over public health concerns.
This decision was taken at the crisis meeting, where the Minister of Transport, Gitge, Ortel, Getesa, Muni, Gendarmerie and National Police participated.
A recent statement by the Information and Press Office of Equatorial Guinea disclosed this.
The vice-president considered it unacceptable that the dignity and reputation of married women should be compromised by acts that are currently shocking all generations of Equatorial Guinea, said the statement.
“In addition, he has described this situation as serious because, according to the member of the government, it threatens the family structure of the country.
“During the meeting, Nguema Obiang Mangue said that the proliferation of these pornographic videos can create destabilisation in the country because it is already considered a national social problem that can damage the sensitivity of future generations,” the statement explained.
After analysing the different aspects and policies to put an end to this situation, the person in charge of defence and security said that there is talk of married women and mothers who have allowed themselves to be filmed in sexual acts, and the government “cannot cross its arms,” the Equatorial Guinean government stated.
“Therefore, and taking into account that more than 200 videos are spoken of on social networks, urgent and forceful measures must be taken to stop this situation to protect women whose videos have not yet been released.
“In the meantime, he has sent those present to meet to put together a strategy to provide an immediate solution to this situation a strategy that must be presented to it tomorrow for it to be approved. And despite these works, the intelligence services continue with the investigation,” said the government.
It added that the idea “is to know the origin of these publications” to find the “author or authors and make them answer for their actions.”
Corruption in Equatorial Guinea is still widely spread among authorities and in the family of the president, as Equatorial Guinea is described as a kleptocracy and a country whose corrupt leaders use their powers to exploit people and natural resources, embezzling funds at the expense of the population, said the Global Organised Crime Index.
It also alleged that corruption by such political elite, including the president’s sons, has been the subject of several trials in different jurisdictions, including the US, UK and France.
Despite the existence of a legal framework and mechanisms pertaining to anti-corruption, these are largely not enforced or implemented.
